Alice Courier Chess

Alice Courier Chess is played on a pair of ordinary 8x8 boards, checkered for ease of play. The Bishops are replaced by Couriers, combining the moves of a Bishop and a Wazir. This piece is called a Dragon Horse in Shogi. The Queens are replaced by colorbound pieces called Jesters, making one or two steps like a Ferz. The Jesters in this game lack the initial diagonal jump permitted in Sidney LeVasseur's Kings Court (1997). Alice Chess Rules govern the play of this game.

Setup

The ancient game of Makruk influenced the choice of pieces and the initial setup.

WHITE: Rook a1, h1; Knight b1, g1; Courier c1, f1; King d1; Jester e1; Pawn a2, b2, c2, d2, e2, f2, g2, h2.

BLACK: Rook a8, h8; Knight b8, g8; Courier c8, f8; Jester d8; King e8; Pawn a7, b7, c7, d7, e7, f7, g7, h7.

Pieces

These are standard chess pieces, but neither castling nor "en passant" rules apply here.

Courier - This piece (Betza notation BW) moves and captures along the diagonals like a Bishop. It also moves and captures on any adjacent square. See the movement diagram below. Note that Alice Chess Rules allow the piece in this diagram to move through the (f3) square, but not to land on it.

Jester - the same piece as the Free Padwar in JETAN. To put it another way, this piece can move one or two squares like a Bishop or two squares like a Boyscout (Crooked Bishop). See the movement diagram below. Note that Alice Chess Rules do not allow the piece in this diagram to land on the (D5) square.

COURIER and JESTER

Rules

The basic rules of Alice Chess (1953) govern this game. Thus a piece must make a legal move on the board it is standing on before ending its move on the corresponding (empty) square on the other board.

This game has neither en passant nor castling rules. Any Pawn may advance one or two squares on its initial move. A Pawn advancing to the final rank always promotes to a Rook, Courier, Jester or Knight of the same color. Note that promotion is the only way to obtain a Jester moving on the light squares in this game. Checkmate is a win and stalemate is a draw.

I wish to propose a few general rules concerning drawn games. Of course, it is up to the players to agree on any rules they use. The 64-move rule is based on the FIDE 75-move rule. While the more famous 50-move rule grants a player the right to claim a draw, it does not compel the players to end the game. The 32-move rule was inspired by the variety of rules that apply to Makruk endgames.

Sixty-four-move rule. If sixty-four moves are made by both players without a pawn move or capture being made, the game is drawn unless the sixty-fourth move delivers a checkmate. No claim needs to be made by either player, as the draw is mandatorily applied by the arbiter.

Thirty-two-move rule. The sixty-four-move count is cut in half when one player has only a King on the board and the forces of the other player include either a Rook or a Courier (or several of these pieces). Note that any capture or pawn promotion still resets the count to zero.

Fivefold repetition rule. If the same position occurs on the board five times, then the game is immediately terminated as a draw. If an arbiter detects a fivefold repetition, they are required to intervene and declare the game a draw. Unlike the 2014 FIDE rule, this rule says nothing about which player was about to move in those positions. In any case, at least three of those positions will have the same player to move.

Notes

This is my seventh chess variant lacking both Bishops and Queens. The others are: Courier Chess VIII - Midgard Chess - Mir Chess 32 - Opulent Lemurian Shatranj - Shatranj Kamil (64) - Shatranj Kamil X. A rough draft of Alice Courier Chess was completed in July 2023, but real life and "real chess" took up much of my time since then. HISTORICAL NOTE: A playing piece like Sidney LeVasseur's Jester (but without the rule permitting an initial diagonal jump) has led a shadowy existence among Jetan players during the century following the publication of The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. In the Pieces section of Shatranj Kamil X (2007), I used the common term "Free Padwar" for this piece. Burroughs most likely intended the game of Jetan to use a "Chained Padwar", moving exactly two squares.

Rook = 5, Courier = 5, Jester = 3, Knight = 2 and Pawn = 1 are my "best guess" for endgame piece values here.

This makes a Rook worth as much as a Knight and a Jester. The value of Pawns may be even higher when promotion becomes harder to prevent. Perhaps a Rook is worth only four Pawns. To illustrate to versatility of the Jester, here is an eight-ply miniature ending in checkmate on the second board.

Position after 1. d3 e6 2 .Kd2 Je7 3. Nc3 Je5 4. Nd1 Jd4 mate

Last revised by David Paulowich.